


Danganronpa: Lethal Court

by RedeemOrRegret



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Gen, Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26251777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedeemOrRegret/pseuds/RedeemOrRegret
Summary: Lethal Court is a danganronpa based story with different cast and new brand story. All idea credit to Kazutaka Kodaka the original creator of Danganronpa franchise!=========================================================Sixteen adults of Ultimates found themselves woke up in the court, with a figure in black and white who called themselves as Judge stated they would redeem their sin if they committed a perfect murder crime. Unfortunately they don't know what exactly what they did, they just had to kill someone without getting caught in the court trial...Who will kill or will they survive the deadly court instead? Find out more about it in this book and follow the Ultimate Mediator's life in this killing game.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Meeting Ultimate Mediator and Ultimate Archer

**Author's Note:**

> Slow updates: I have a proofreader and I have to do arts, CGs, and other visual all by myself.
> 
> NOTE: This is OFFICIAL post and author, at moment I only posting this on wattpad and AO3 so if you see this anywhere else its NOT mine unless I said otherwise!

A sharp pain made it way to my head like a dagger swiftly goes through my head as I hold my head, tears flickering in the corner of my eyes. What just happened to me? I cannot even remember what happened a few hours ago except that I was coming back home from my office, and everything just blackout out of nowhere.

My other hand tried to reach out to support my body as they hold into something soft besides me, which I assumed I was laying on a soft couch. After awhile of sitting, I slowly opened my eyes to be blinded by something bright. As I fluttered my eyes open, the vision finally no longer blur.  
  
  


_Where am I?_

__

Slowly, I can see small lamps on pastel yellow colored ceiling. Then I looked over to see someone in black, panicked not knowing who it is, I screamed and throw whatever near me at the person -- a pillow.

There was a long pause, until I realized the person is emotionless. My vision getting clear, showing a man in a black plaid jacket and a matching beret hat along with his shoulder-length hair styled in ponytail. Underneath he was wearing white shirt and navy dull blue tight arm gloves. His head was looking down that I couldn't see his face clearly. He was sleeping while crossing his arms and leaning on a sofa.

_Should I awake him?_

As I was about to go across the other sofa, a groan came from him which freaked me out and a yelp slipped through my lips as he tried to stood up from where he was sitting.  
  
  
  
  


"That shit hurts, you awake?"  
  
  


  
  


That when I noticed he has bandage over his eyes, a slight guilt stabbed through my chest.

_I've thrown a pillow at a blind person!!_

"Yes, I'm awake... sorry about that, I was scared."

"That's everyone reaction, except for me obviously.. Are you in the front of me?" He tilted his head.

"Yes, right in the front of you." An awkward smile made it way to my lips.

He sighed before as his head turned away from me. My feet shifted around on the ceramic floor like an awkward little child in a new school and tried to introduce themselves in the front of the classroom and other students, except that... this building gave off familiar vibes and I cannot exactly tell what it is.

"Anyways... my name's Yuuga Wataru, Ultimate Archer. You?"

Even though I cannot tell his expression, but surprisingly I could assume he raised an eyebrow in curiosity judging from his tone. A finger poked my head as it startled me from my train of thoughts, confusion and embarrassment mixed within my feelings, _did I zone out for that long??_

"Are you sleeping again?" He tilted his head, clearly annoyed that I hasn't answered his question, filled with embarrassment I looked away and shifted in my spot.

"N-no... sorry, I was spacing out. Anyways I'm Ao Hikari.. Wait, an Ultimate?" I'm with another ultimate, how is this even possible? I don't usually counter another fellow Ultimate, so meeting one for once in my life felt like an absolute impossible dream.

"What, you are not one?"

"Oh, no, no! I'm an Ultimate too, I just have not really met my people once, haha..-"

"I see, that makes it even more odd. Everyone is an Ultimate at some point and gathered in one place... interesting." His lips curved into a smug for a brief seconds, before back he go back frowning.

"Everyone? There's other people beside us here?"

He nodded, "Not exactly sure in number... you were the last one to awake, everyone else has left to explore this strange place."

_There are other ultimate too... what's happening?_

"Should we go find them, then?" I suggested, looking at him.

"That's what I've been waiting for, let's go." He started to carefully walk away from me, I stood in very same spot as I blinked twice in confusion until I realized something.  
  
  
  


"Wait, Yuuga- do you perhaps need help-" As I said that, he bumped into a wall with a loud thud and groaned out loud in pain, followed with him crouched down as he held his face with both hands.  
  
  


**_"You didn't totally see that, pretend nothing happened, I swear to fucking god."_ **

He stuttered, obviously flustered from earlier small incident he just got into. I rushed to help him out, the confusion between wanted to laugh and guilt fought each other mentally like a pair of beast fighting for their territory.  
  
  
  


"I-I'll lead you through this place, come on..." I grabbed his hand only to be slapped away, leaving me astounded and confused.

"Don't just grab my hand like that, idiot. I'll let you, just- don't touch me. I warn you, never ever touch me--" He stuttered in deep tone, showing discomfort. I mentally made a note to myself to never try touch him ever again and nodded.

"My apologies for my rudeness,, alright, if you say so, don't you usually have a cane?"

"I do, but- for some reason I lost it when I woke up here." He sighed.

"Ah, I see. Let's hope we'll find something else for the cane replacement."

After that incident, I decided to let him put his hand on my shoulder so I could guide him through the building like a walking cane.  
  
  
  



	2. Meeting Ultimate Host

The first place we visited was library, as soon as we opened the door, our eyes met by a blinding bright light. I squinted my eyes, then looked again to see such gorgeous interior. The library furniture were fancy, there's also a large red carpet with golden yellow outline and sparkling glitters beneath the tables. There were stairs near bookcases for obvious reason.

"Hey, come over here. She's awake," Yuuga yelled. Curiously **,** I looked over to where his eyes at, to see someone with an unfamiliar face. He was tall and wearing a black tuxedo with matching bowtie covered in gold shiny patterns, black pants, and brown shoes. He also has a messy dirty blonde short haircut while his bang covered his other teal eye.

"Morning, miss. How are you feeling?" He asked while taking my hand and kissing it.

I was dumbfounded **\--** " Is it really morning?"

"Well, I can't exactly tell but... nice to meet you, my name is Daiki Hoshi, the Ultimate Host." He put his hand on his chest in respect as a soft smile decorated his face.

"Ah, mine is Ao Hikari, Ultimate Mediator." -- At that statement his eyes widened and took my hands in his and pulled me closer.

"Eep!"

"You're really that Ao Hikari? Oh my gosh, I'm so honored to see you in person! I've been admiring you and your performance in the courts!" he exclaimed in awe, while I was getting awkward of how close we are.

"Ohh, well I guess I'm glad you admire me? I honestly have never been treated this way..." I mumbled.

"Be my wife, please." He pulled me even closer, making me uncomfortable and confused.  
  
  
  


As I opened my mouth to say something and pulled away from the host, out of blue Yuuga smacked the blonde in the back of his head, enough to startle me as I took a few step backwards.

"Owie... that hurt- that's creepy how you can tell I'm in the front of her!" The host rubbed the back of his head, whining to himself.

"That's for being a creep and waking me up with a book in the face," the archer stated in monotone.

"Bringing up that again? Or are you just jealous that I'll steal your girl? To be honest that was a joke and-- you're hard to wake up **,** you know. I mean, I _**can't even see**_ if you were dead or sleeping. Get it?"

"Why you little-"

"Aw, so you're jealous?"--and the fight didn't just end there, Yuuga continued with the mouth war following with low hisses, but that doesn't take long after he punched the host in the face and walked away.

"My, my. He is still in his pre-teen." Hoshi jokingly said and shook his head while rubbing his nose.

"You alright, Daiki?" I asked in concern, worried that Yuuga might have hit him too hard.

"I'm absolutely fine, you can go continue meeting the others." I nodded, but then I remembered something and stopped him from walking away.

"Wait, wait! I forgot to ask you about, um, if you have any clue about this place?" I asked, he halted midway before turning around.

"Hmm, I'm afraid not. I'm trying to find it through the books but none of them helping either." He sighed hopelessly. "All of them only usual books you can find anywhere; history, law, etc." he continued.

"Well, ok if you say so... See you soon, Daiki."

He frowned, "You can just call me Hoshi, formality isn't needed."

"Oh, my sincere apologies- um, Hoshi. I'll be going now with Yuuga."

"See you soon, don't let him bump into walls!" He waved me off and turned around, I hesitantly nodded and walked away from the library.


	3. Meeting Ultimate Breakdancer

The hallways covered in red carpet and golden outline seem endless to explore, that I wonder how massive is this place until a sudden yell interrupted the train of my thoughts-

"HEY!!!"  
  
  


A sudden long yell surprised both of us, as soon as I turned around I was tackled to the ground. Letting out loud gasp in process as my body fell to the red carpet. Once landed I yelped in pain before looked at the culprit.  
  


"You finally awake!! I was so worried!" The young male voice cried out loud in happiness, he helped me up afterwards and I examined his features from head to toe.

"You better don't do that again." Yuuga scolded the young man, crossing his arms with cold stare.  
  


"Eek- sorry, I couldn't help myself! I thought she was dead or even worse in coma!" The man said whining like a kid, getting scolded by the archer.  
  
  


He has teal short hair that is idol-styled and big brown eyes, a grey short sleeved t-shirt adorned with a loosened light yellow jacket down his waist and a folded up black pants with a pair of brown sporty shoes and black socks, then finally a white hat that facing backwards.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


" _Annyeong haseyo_ , miss!" He flashed a huge grin like a child, how adorable. "Ah, morning. I assume you're another foreign ultimate?"   
  


"Aye! I'm from South Korea, Sumin Youngsoo the Ultimate Break-dancer!" He put a hand to his chest in proud gesture with a wink.  
  


"Nice to meet you, Sumin. I'm Ao Hikari, Ultimate Mediator. And what do you mean 'finally awake'?" I tilted my head to side in confusion.  
  
  


"He was waiting for you as well, but he decided to explore on his own." Yuuga answered the question for the boy.

"Ahh, I see." I nodded in understanding.  
  


"Mhm! Well, I haven't find any clue but, I'll try my best!" His brown eyes sparkled in excitement. I might will become a good friends with him, he's fun to hang out with even though the situation is rough and confusing.  
  


"But," he added, "There's this mysterious lady named Kuro.. Kuroeda Erika! She's very quiet and won't tell me anything but her name!" He moved his arms as he explained.

"Oh?" Yuuga raised an eyebrow, interested.

"Well then, we will be on our way to look for more clues and exit, thank you for informing what you know. See you later around, Sumin." Before I could take any step, I was interrupted by sudden tug at my sleeves.

"Wait! Can I be with you guys? I'm too scared to be alone." He whimpered.

"Troublesome..." Yuuga mumbled under his breathe out loud.

"Sure!" I nodded, he cheered not minding what Yuuga said and all of us started to continue the investigating and finding clues for the exist.


	4. Meeting Ultimate Thief and Ultimate Stage Actress

When we arrived at the kitchen, the first thing that happened in front of our eyes were a tall woman with pale lavender hair with bandana covering a half of her head and a shorter girl with long curly brown, and pink hair with white streaks in the end, running around the kitchen.

The taller woman appeared to be wearing a sleeves black shirt adorned with pale blue ruffles below her chest along with matching black pants, and her arms also were adorned with white elbow-length sleeves.  
  


The shorter woman appeared to be wearing a beige coat with a white shirt underneath, a baggy black pants, waist adorned with a yellow belt that similar to caution cape, and a small top hat with white ribbon, she's also wearing pink and white shoes.  
  
  


The females were yelling at each other, completely ignoring our arrival. The view was like watching kids playing tag at the park, except this time, it looks even more ridiculous.

"G-guys, can we calm down and introduce each other?" I tried to stop them, but zero result.

The shorter female cried, "Wahhh! My precious expensive vintage glasses!"  
  
  


"Hey, give it back to the child! It's rude stealing people's belongings, you know!" Sumin interrupted their bickering as he ran over to the taller female to help the other out.

It was getting more ridiculous by the minute. I just stood there, bewildered by the scene that was unfolding itself in front of me.

"W-who are you calling a child?! I'm a grown up woman, mind you!" yelled the girl with red face in anger.

"Eh?! I'm sorry, miss!" the boy whined in guilt.  
  


"Hey, are ya' not gonna get your glasses back?"

"Give it back!"  
  
  
  
  


After some attempts, the short girl finally knocked down the taller female to the ground, snatching her glasses.

"Yeah, sure- ohh! It's the emo!" the girl pointed at Yuuga.  
  
  
  
"You guys know each other?" I raised my eyebrows, clearly surprised and confused at same time. _Just how long I was unconscious?_

"Yeah, why?" the brunette scoffed, as she putting on her glasses.

"Well that's mean I just have to introduce myself then?" I nervously smiled.   
  
  


She rolled her eyes behind the yellow shades of her glasses, "I guess so, you were taking forever to wake up."

"Well yeah, almost all of us know each other!" said the breakdancer in his usual cheery tone.

I took a quick glance at Sumin, then back to the two-toned color haired girl in the front of me, to my surprise I just realized that she also has two colored different eyes.   
  
  


"Haha, yeah. I'm Ao Hikari, Ultimate Mediator, You?"

"The name's Reiko Kazue, one and only fantastic Ultimate Stage Actress!" She complimented herself while striking a pose with a small grin, holding her chin proudly. I giggled a bit at her introduction, then I said;  
  
"Is it weird that if I say that your eyes are pretty? They're so... extraordinary."

Her cheeks went peach as her lips formed into a line, "Ehh, thank you, I guess." then looked away from me, avoiding eye contacts. I tilted my head in confusion as I blinked my eyes, did I do something wrong?  
  
  
  
  


"Hey hey, shortie!"

"I have a name! Also what?!"

"Nothing! Just wanted to call you shortie, also hello there!" Waved the tall pale lavender-haired woman at me from behind the girl, "Um, hi? May I help you?"

"I'm good. So are you an Ultimate too?"

"Are you fucking dumb or what? We are all ultimates here, how does she couldn't be one?" snapped the actress.

"I am Ao Hikari, Ultimate Mediator," I smiled. "Cool, cool. I'm Mika Ayaka, the one and only Ultimate Thief!" she pointed to herself with thumb proudly.

"That explain a lot why you are teasing the kid." the black haired male blurted out in mocking tone. At the 'kid' word, the actress stepped closer towards the archer with tantrum.  
  
  


"Excuse me?!" Kazue kicked Yuuga's knee, earning a loud groan from the male before soon they broke into a fight.  
  
  


"Guys, no violence please," Sumin whined as he hide behind me, meanwhile the thief is nowhere to be seen anymore.  
  
  
  


"Hey!! Where did she go?" The actress yelled in rage, I reluctantly pointed at the door and that's when she just dashed out, leaving us in confusion.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Bitch." Yuuga huffed as he crossed his arm, then yelled in pain as I flicked his arm.

"Profanity!" The other male covered his both ears, uncomfortable with the language.

"Mind your language, please."

"You are not my mother to tell me what to do!!" He argued as we left the kitchen.


	5. Meeting Ultimate Butler

_Creaaaak!_

We pushed a big metal door, inside the room there were high counters with each of them filled with crates and some other items that I couldn't take time to examine.

"I'm guessing this is a storage room... from the iron smell." Yuuga stated the obvious mumbling the last word and picked up nearest item, a toolbox and touched what's inside it as I explored through the wide room. I touched the metal wall; it was surprisingly clean. My eyes wandered to a strange figure who was studying the inside of a crate, seeming lost in thoughts that he didn't even notice us entered the place.

He had caramel hair and brown eyes; wearing a black suit ended with ruffles that reached his knee along with matching pants, and fancy cravat tie adorned his neck with a dark red shiny jewel.  
  


"Well, you are right!!" Sumin exclaimed, and wandered off from us to other side of the room.

"Don't get too far. You're as troublesome as a lost child!" Yuuga warned, yelling at the other male.

Ignoring my friends, I walked up to the anonymous man to see if he knows anything about this place. "Excuse me?" I greeted him, he seem to be a little startled before collecting his composure and calmly turned around to face me.  
  
  


"Greetings, how may I help you?" The man asked in soft tone, following with a short bow as I approached him.

He was surely very polite and collected, I felt familiar, but where have I met him before?

"I just wanted to introduce myself; do you happen to be an Ultimate too?" I explained myself and continued with a question, as I played with my strands of my hair.

"Indeed I am."

"Well, I'm Ao Hikari. Ultimate Mediator, nice to meet you."

"My name is Yuichiro Hyosuke, the Ultimate Butler. I wish to serve you of my best ability." He bowed again, almost perfectly 45 degrees. "What can I do for you?" He tilted his head slightly.

"I was wondering if you had any clue for this place, in case you might remember something?" I asked, putting a finger on my cheek curiously as I can sense Yuuga approaching two of us from behind  
  


"I'm afraid not, but I can remember someone asking me to go a certain place."

Sadly, his word doesn't spark anything familiar to me.

"What exactly is this certain place?" The male behind me spoke up.

"Again, I can't remember that much either, the rest are waking up in this building after sudden... blackout?"

"B-blackout?"

"Does that mean we were kidnapped?" Yuuga blurted out, earning a frightened scream not from far away which is Sumin himself.

"Kidnapped?!" The korean boy stuttered, as tears welled up in his eyes socket.

"C-calm down! Even though we are kidnapped, whoever it is -- they at least they let us roam free, right?" I explained, trying to calm the poor petrified male who was hugging himself.  
  
  


"I have to agree with Miss Ao. But even so, I would gladly provide anyone as much as I can to make them comfortable, despite in the situation we are in," Hyosuke smiled warmly at us.

"How nice of you, Yuichiro. But you really don't have to work so hard- even though we are fellow ultimate, we are still a human being, so formality isn't really needed," I smiled back.

The butler went silent after that. Awkward atmosphere surrounded us by seconds until Hyung broke it, "W-what's with the sudden silence...?" he asked nervously, fidgeting his fingers.

"Ah, my bad. I was honestly touched that Miss Ao called me a friend instead of someone who should respect you," he placed his hand on his chest, and exhaled in content.

"Ah, I see. Well, we'll be going then-"

"Hey, we forgot to ask him about her," Yuuga interrupted, stopping me from walking any further as I turned on my heels.

"What did we forgot?" Sumin asked, once again clueless about the situation.

"About that woman, the Ultimate Assistant..." Yuuga stopped as he turned his head at the butler who once again gave attention to us from the crate he's been staring at for a while.

"What do you need, Mr. Yuuga?" He questioned him.

"Do you happen to know about a woman named Kuroeda Erika?" Yuuga shot a question back.

But the butler's answer wasn't something we expected like; "I've seen her," or something like that but instead; "She just walked out shortly before you three came in. You didn't see her on her way out, by chance?"

The three of us were taken aback -- She was here not long ago?

"No, we haven't really seen her at all. There was no one in the hall when we walked here," I explained in a worried tone.

"Then she's a ghost?!" Sumin cried out loud in fear, hands up in the air as defensive gesture.

"Idiot," Yuuga rolled his eyes, followed with smacking Sumin across the head from the back.

"Ack! What was that for?!"

Ignoring the breakdancer's whimpers, Yuuga continued his sentence. "You sure you're not lying? I probably can't see my surroundings, at least there's should be her presence or something, which I didn't feel at all."

"By any under circumstances, I would never lie at all," he argued in pride and stood up, straightening his back, looking directly at the archer.

"Very well if you say so, let's go."

Yuuga walked away along with Sumin who ran out of the room already, might have scared about earlier. I looked at the butler who bow as well as saying goodbye.

"It's in my greatest pleasure that I could assist you."-- was his last words as the storage room closed.


	6. Meeting Ultimate Assistant

A long silence between us is extremely thick yet so awkward as three of us walked through the fancy hallway of this place, only footsteps echoed through out the halls filling the silence as we walking. So I decided to speak up to break the silence, "Hey, Sumin?"

"Y-yeah? What is it?"

"Do you happened to know what does she look like?" I asked him as I glanced at the break dancer.

"If I'm remember correctly... she might be the woman with a crop top and ombre hair fading to silver and purple-ish? S-she is also quite tall than averages," he explained with unsure tone while fidgeting his fingers.

"I see... I wonder where she could be."

We entered a place with a lot of tables, each table had at least a chair or two, a long counter with a shelf filled with various drinks. There are a few stools by the counter, a menu hanging above the counter and a sink by the end of the counter. Some glasses were placed neatly in the cabinets and the room's light source had an orange tint to it, giving off an eerie atmosphere.

Speak of the devil, there is a woman with a brown crop top and exposed shoulders, white collar decorated with a red tie, her short ombre brown hair that faded to silver and indigo adorned in a bun. Black gloves and matching pants, white socks, and high heels. Her eyes covered by a sunglasses that I unable to tell her eyes color.

So I walked up to her to have a conversation and get to know her better.

"Excuse, can we talk with you?" I started but no response, or even reaction. She was just there, crossing her arms and not moving at all like a statue.

"Excuse me, ma'am? We need your help and we just want to have a moment." Second attempt, and still no motion coming from her.

_Why is she ignoring us?_

"Maybe she doesn't want to talk with us..." I said nearly gave up to have a talk with her.

"Or she could be the one who behind all of this crap," Yuuga bluntly said, -- "Yuuga, how could you say such a thing?" I argued. I'm sure that the woman is in same boat like the rest of people we've met.

"That's a possibility, can't you sense the silence coming from her that seems like she knows something about what's going on and probably hiding it?" He'd spat with tone full of venom.

I was taken aback, but my guts still telling me that she's not the culprit of this whole kidnapping thing and I wanted to believe my own guts. Keyword, _wanted_.

"First of all, sir. She is right that my knowledge is as limited as yours. Second of all, I don't talk because it is definitely pointless when we are in same boat."  
  


The woman finally spoke up only to gave us a mere glance as she lift her head a bit, but from her monotone voice I can tell that she's telling the truth. I hope.  
  


"You think I would believe you that easily? Funny." The archer spatted, disgusted.  
  
  


"Obviously, you won't. Now, won't you kindly go away before I change my mind? I'm irrelevant with anything you want from me. You might already know who I am, don't you?"

"Are you... Kuroeda Erika?"

"Right, I'll be leaving since I doubt you guys will." Without any more words, she walked away. I wanted to stop her, but I don't think bothering her more further than this will even help so I let her go.

"Oh, even though I'm an assistant, don't even bother to ask for my help and I have my own reason that isn't none of your business to know." She added before completely gone from our sight.

"Cocky," Yuuga commented.

"Well, now that we gain nothing from her, maybe we should look for others." He continued.  
  
  


"Indeed we should, I'm sure we haven't meet all of them yet.." I counted by fingers of how many people I've met, and there were only six include Sumin and Yuuga.

"Hikari is right! Let's go!!" Sumin cheered as we left the bar. I glanced at Yuuga who seemed not so happy after earlier interaction.

"It's okay, Yuuga. We will find out what's going on soon enough!"   
  
I encouraged him, well, tried. I only received a scoff as a response.


	7. Meeting Ultimate Criminal and Ultimate Somnologist

"Wake up, old man! You seriously can sleep in a situation like this and leave me all alone?"

Was what we heard as we entered the infirmary. There were two people in the room. One was trying to wake up the other one who sleeping on one of the beds– seeming so peaceful despite the situation of being trapped in this strange place.

Yuuga walked in, then retreated in silence as if he recognized other's presence like a threat. I looked up in confusion. I was about to call out for him, but I was interrupted as he raised his index finger to his lips, gesturing me to shut my mouth as he went to hide behind the cabinets.

"Hey, Kuro!" 

Sumin called out at the other person, waving as he raised his hand as high as possible. In response, the raven-haired male did a high-five with the break dancer.

"Yo, who's the pretty woman next you? I don't think I've talked to her yet." 'Kuro' greeted back, walking closer toward me.

I just smiled and started to introduce myself. "Ao Hikari, Ultimate Mediator."

"Ah, you're the one on the news that everyone talked about," the man with red eyes nodded, seemed to recognize me as he held his chin.

"The way you talk is as if you're talking to a lawyer..." Letting a sweat drop, I smiled nervously to his comment.

"You should've been a lawyer," he teased. "Anyways, my name's Kuro. Reikuma Kuro. I'm the Ultimate Criminal." He adjusted his bear mask.

I shifted in my spot uncomfortably once I heard that familiar name.   
  
  


"O-Oh... I see."

I can feel him smirking under his mask as his red eyes squinted at me, glowing under the shadow of his hat. _Maybe just my imagination._

He leaned closer towards me, adjusting his height, before I could feel a cold, sharp surface touching the skin of my neck. I glanced– it's a pocket knife.

"You know what _exactly_ a criminal does?"

"AHHH- KNIFE!" Sumin screamed. He took a few steps backwards until his back met the wall, shivering uncontrollably. I was frozen in my spot until suddenly.

"W-Wait, Kuro! We can talk about this! Y-You don't have to kill me!" I stuttered, trying to push the man away from me as cold sweat dripped down my forehead.  
  
  
  


Before any of us could move an inch, a sudden black shadow passed my sight. It seems Yuuga pushed the criminal away to the floor with full force.

**_THUD!_ **

The criminal groaned as his body hit the floor. Must've damaged his back. I got worried and had the desire to help him but Yuuga was in my way. I cancelled the thought.

"I knew that you're dangerous to be near everyone, Reikuma."

"Ow, ow, ow... Geez, chill. I was just playing around with her," he laughed, standing up slowly as he put away the blade back to his pocket and dust off his varsity jacket.

"Did he harm you? Any injuries?" The archer ignored his sentence, looking down at me.

"No, I'm all good. It's okay, I'm sure he won't kill me," I tried to reassure him, but before anyone could say anything, another new voice interrupted us.

"What's all the noises about? I'm trying to sleep..." It was the man who sleeping on the bed. What a good timing.

"OH FINALLY!" Kuro cried out loud, "You're awake! I was so scared!" he whined with crocodile tears as he approached the old-looking man as he cling onto his legs, meanwhile Sumin just watched in confusion from the corner.

"Ew, drama queen," the archer commented in disgust.

"Who are those people?" The sleepy man asked to the other one who was whining dramatically still, rubbing his sleepy eyes while hugging a big pillow like a child with their teddy bear plushie.

"Ah, greetings! I'm Ao Hikari, Ultimate Mediator," I introduced myself as I walked closer to the man. Upon seeing his features, it's sort of weird. At first glance he looks so old with his gray hair and wrinkles on his cheeks and his forehead, beards barely visible as well on his chin. His dull light blue eyes looked up at me, slightly smiling weakly.

"Oh, pleasure to meet you. My name is Toby. Just call me Toby."

"Alright, Mr. Toby."

"Formality isn't needed, even though I'm old," he laughed awkwardly, hugging his pillow tighter. Looking at the ground, I noticed that he looked sleepy- or maybe he really is?

"Ah, my bad. Well then, do you happen to be an Ultimate like us?"

"Hmm... If I recall correctly, I was Somnologist," he reluctantly responded to my question.

I just smiled, "what is that?" I asked again.

"It's basically study anything about sleep– the cause and all of that. I'm not that good with explanations, but you get it, don't you?" I nodded at his explanation.

"You study sleep or just like to sleep?" The criminal mocked. When I looked up, Yuuga is just standing far away from the said criminal while crossing his arms, clearly don't like the other's presence.

"Uh... both?" Toby answered clueless as if those weren't an insult which made other snorted to himself.

  
"I've been meaning to ask, uh..." I spoke up a little louder to both men attention, raising my hand. Kuro looked at me, raising his eyebrows in confusion with an expression that said 'just-go-on'. And so I asked, "do you guys have any clue about what's going on here?"

  
"Ah, unfortunately I have no idea too," Kuro shrugged with instant answer as if he had been expecting the question. "But for sure I'll inform everyone if I found something like a clue." He adjusted his bear mask again.

"Me neither. It's not really helping either that I forgot everything that just happened a while ago..." Toby sighed, feeling hopeless.

"Aww... well, we can't just give up, can we?" Sumin declared, trying to lift up the heavy atmosphere in the room.

"I'm sure we can get out! I know it!" Kuro chuckled, definitely amused by the positive vibes radiating from the boy.

"Aw, thanks, I really appreciate those words."


	8. Meeting Ultimate Card Master and Ultimate Mythology Enthusiast

The decorations were almost the same like every room we've entered, fancy sofa that was enough to fit two people for each with red carpet beneath the chairs, a grandfather clock across the room with a visible pendulum from the distance swinging endlessly from left to right behind the thick glass, numbers written in roman numerals on the clock's face, and a huge bookshelf in each side of said clock.

There's a young man with curly, light brown hair with a crown made of leaves, and a lady with dark, velvet long hair adorned with flowers on top of her head.

The lady appeared to be wearing a fancy, yellow buttoned red vest that goes down over her waist, following with black pants and matching heels, a black masquerade mask covering the half of her face.

The other one seemed like your average kind of adventurer, a casual outfit along with a grey sling bag decorated with colorful pins of random symbols, but the only thing that stuck out was his leaf crown.

One of them seemed to be focused on the cards he's holding, meanwhile the other is leaning against the couch and pillows with crossed legs as she used the cards in her hand to fan herself.

"Come on, young lad. It's been five minutes." the lady spoke up.

"Shush! I'm trying to focus here!" He pouted and finally pulled a card, the lady looked at the table as he did so.

"I'm sorry to say, you've lost again," she chuckled, and slapped out a card on the table.

"Oh, come on!" He yelled in frustration as his back lumped against the couch. While we just stood there, Yuuga might already know them, hence why he just stood far away while I'm here trying to get their attention--  
  
  
  
  


"Oh, hello!" The young man greeted.  
  


"Ah, a newcomer? Pleasure to meet you, want to play cards with us?" Following with the lady.  
  
  
  


"Oh, um... well I suppose. But I just wanted to ask few questions."

"Ohh, I think I know what it is. But first, Mr. Archer? Don't be shy, come here," she teased the man, just to be replied with a silence and a harsh scoff.  
  


"I guess I'll take that as a no," She sighed in disappointment for a brief second before smiling again.

"Very well then, how about you, pretty young lady?" She asked as she cleaned up the cards and shuffle it back in her hands.

"Huh, sure?" 

I responded with an unsure tone in my voice which made her chuckle in response. The woman stood up and walked over, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and said;

"It won't take long, I promise. Just to spice up things, right?" As she merely raised her other hand to emphasize her words.

"Right.." 

Yet just another chuckle, as I reluctantly to sit on the empty spot next to the young man. He waved at me as he leaned on the couch, perhaps not participating the game.  
  


"Very well, first and foremost... We shall introduce ourselves. My name is Gloria Victory, the Ultimate Card Master, one and only," she started, gesturing to herself elegantly, while I just stared in awe at the charming woman in the front of me.

"I'm, uh... Ao Hikari the Ultimate Mediator. Nice to meet you too, Miss Gloria." I responded softly then I felt a hand on my shoulder, as I looked it belonged to the young man.

"I'm Apollo Lawrence the Ultimate Greek Mythology Enthusiast! Good luck on the game, though-"

"It is indeed possible to defeat me, fufu."

"Yeah, of course!" The man pouted.  
  
  
  
  


"Very well, let's not waste anymore time. You know the rules in War, do you?" She asked, as she spread the cards in same amount.  
  
  


"Perhaps I am."

She flashed an elegant smile at me, "I will explain it again, then. It's quite simple, if I pull out a higher value, for example," she took a card out of the deck she held and turned it over; "The Ace of Hearts -- and you pulled lower value any other than another Ace, then you lose, it shall repeat until one person gets the other's whole hand, then you win. In this case, you can ask me each time you receive a card from me..." She paused her explaining with a smirk, "But that's evidently impossible, don't you agree?" She suddenly leaned forward until our faces were almost touching, startling me.

"Considering who you are, yes." I nodded awkwardly, as a drop of cold sweat fell from my forehead.

"Eheehee... rest assured, I will not spare you."

"Meanie!" Apollo commented, and the woman let out a small laugh.

"Now, let us start the game." 

I nodded, and took the cards on the table which she had reserved for me. There was an equal amount of red cards and black cards, but it's obvious I won't able to take a card from her.  
  
  
  


And so we started. One by one, the lady took the cards in my hands, until there was only one left. She glanced at me, now smirking.

Her ruby red eyes behind the mask screamed obvious triumph, and I had no choice but to give up as I pulled out the last card; The Ten of Diamonds, while her last card was a Jack of Diamonds. She won, but I didn't know what else should I expect from the Ultimate Card Master.

"I must say I'm impressed you tried your best to win over me, Miss Ao." She chuckled with her signature laugh.

"Am I supposed not to?" I tilted my head, confused. We both knew from the beginning she was definitely going to win, so what's with the compliment?

"Most people usually can't stand playing against me, and end up begging for the permit to give up. Your patience to play is something I rarely see," she explained. I was unable to respond to her statement, so I just settled on giving her a simple nod.

"You may now ask me for the reward of your patience, Miss Ao."

My head perked up to see her, and she responded with a nod to reassure me.

"A question, or two." She added following with hand gestures. I glanced at Yuuga before looking back at her and the young man.

"Erm... but I would like to ask both of you as well." As soon as I said that, I heard a gasp from other male then he suddenly embraced me.

"You didn't forget me! Finally someone that doesn't ignore my existence!" He cried like a child, as I awkwardly laughed.

"So uh, you might have heard this one a lot but.. have you find any clue about this place?"  
  
  
  


Gloria was silenced, deep in thought. The same goes to Apollo, so I give them time to think.

"This may be trivial, but the first thing I could think of is crime when it comes to a court," she stated as her thumb held her chin, scratching her neck afterwards as her other hand rested on her lap.  
  
 _Hold it._

"Wait, court? We are in a court? How did you-?"  
  
  
"You asked if I have a clue, there you go. We are in a court, if you look around carefully this place resemble one, don't you think? You should've known as well."

I immediately silenced, that's why this place gives off familiar feelings but I didn't think this place would be a court, there's an infirmary, a bar, and a kitchen which threw me off. The luxury of this place as if it meant for us, on second thought if this is an actually kidnapping then this is quite... beyond usual? It's look like they wanted us to stay in this place for a long time..  
  


"If you were right about that, did we do something horrible...?" 

"Perhaps... but unfortunately, I cannot recall any kind of crime I committed. Unless if pissing people off could send one to the court, fufufu..." The woman shrugged as she chuckled, while I'm trying to comfort Apollo who was looking down at the red carpet beneath us, lost in thoughts.

"I can't recall if I've did anything wrong as well, and it appears we are all in same boat. Hopefully this is all simply just a misunderstanding and we'll get released soon..."

"Hm, yes, I do hope you're right. It is a serious matter if Ultimates went missing, seeing as to how the world rely on gifted individuals like us," Gloria smiled a little. "That will be all for today, you haven't met the rest, have you?"

I shook my head at her question, only to be replied by another chuckle.

"You may leave now, it's a pleasure to play cards with you. I hope we can play more, ufufu."

"Let me know if you found any other clues, Miss Victory."

"Of course, Miss Ao."


	9. Meeting Ultimate Animal Caretaker and Ultimate Snake Expert

The fresh scent of various flowers greeted my nose as I arrived in a place that I can safely assume is a garden, which is unusual for a court. The garden is quite spacious and ceiling is made of glass, a few bushes decorated almost every corner while flowers were neatly placed in their pots.

There is a medium-sized fountain in the center of the garden, it's surrounded by rocks, there's also a few lily pads here and there floating on the surface of the water. I spotted some garden supplies right by the door, they seems to be untouched.

As I stepped further more, it feels like I'm walking on a surface as soft as clouds. I can't believe the fact that they kidnapped us to a place like this, everything looks so luxurious. Like the library, the halls and even the lobby. As I got lost in my thoughts about this beautiful place, suddenly strange noises came from the bushes. 

The bushes moved drastically, like strong wind was blowing on it. At first I thought it was actually the wind, but I couldn't feel any gusts of wind blowing from any direction, not even a little.

The garden was surrounded by tall walls, with thick vines covering it, Yuuga, who seemed to notice something, stepped in front of me, blocking my view from the bushes. That's when suddenly— 

"YEEHAW!"

High pitched voice echoed through out the place, a massive dark gray snake emerged from the bushes, following with a small girl riding on its back.

Within reflex Yuuga turned around and pushed me out of the way, I groaned in pain as my butt harshly landed on the grass.

"Yuuga, are you okay??" I called out for him, standing up to see the archer was under the massive snake's body -- faceplanted onto the grass.  
  
  


"Oh my god! Yuuga!" 

The small girl on the snake's back blinked, then looked down to see where I'm looking at and gasped. 

"Shoot! Sorry!! Ebony, get up!" She shrieked, the snake obediently followed her order and slithered away from Yuuga, then the large serpent glanced up at me with its glimmering green eyes and looked away as I met the creature's emerald gaze.

Is it just me or it's feeling sorry?

"Claudia, I already told you not to carelessly play with Ebony like that—... oh." 

A new face approached us, they had long dark green snake-like hair and amber eyes, they appear to be wearing a sleeveless white dress, shiny gold jewels decorated their hair, and an orange cloak adorned over their shoulders. Finally, multiple layered bandages covered almost whole of their arm.

"Sorryyyy- I'm too carried away.." The little girl from earlier walked over other as the snake trailing behind.

"It's fine, anyways.." The person looked at me with their blank stare as if they're expecting something from me, then I realized I haven't introduced myself. 

"I'm Ao Hikari, you?" I smiled, holding up hands to shake.

"Medusa.. Leaf..."  
  


"Nice to meet you!" I said with a smile, my tone as enthusiastic as possible to leave a good impression, only to let down by a simple nod, they didn't seem like a talkative person so I gave up and directed my attention to the child.

"Claudia Vanetta, ciao!"

This girl appeared to be wearing an overall knee-length dress with white sleeves, a black cat scarf covered her neck and her orange hair decorated with a fake cat ears headband. Her bright blue eyes stared up at me in curiosity as she tilted her head.

"Is there... something on my face?" I asked her as I pointed to myself, smiling awkwardly. She shook her head, grinning widely at me. 

That's quite adorable, honestly.

"Soooo... what do you need?" 

She jumped over and stood on her toes, trying to match her level with me.

"Well, I'd like to know everyone here and ask if any of you got any clues about this place." I explained to her, her mouth turned from a grin to an "O" shape and she stood up straight on her spot.

She cleared her throat, and put her both hands on her waist. "W-well, I have no clue either! After all, I'm just a kid."

"Lies, you're probably just short."

The Archer spoke up, startling Claudia following with a growl from the petite girl. "How do you even tell I'm short? You are blind!"

"Let me ask you, how is it possible that you're the only kid involved?"

"I-it just happens that I'm the only kid here!" 

"These things can not simply "happen", why would they just kidnap a kid while the rest of the people they kidnapped were adults? Seems unlikely."

"Yuuga, aren't you too harsh on her...?"

The archer's response was a simple but spiteful "tch" as he looked away from her. While Claudia stuck out her tongue, mocking the archer for giving up the "fight" with her. 

"Umm..."  
  


My attention now directed at that voice which came from other person, Medusa.  
  


"Yes, Medusa?"  
  


"I might had remembered something before I got in this place..." They sounded unsure, however I can see they're trying their best to help.

"Take your time, Medusa."

It took them awhile to explain things, after a while, they were finally able to continue explaining what are they trying to say.

"I remember... struggling against a lot of people in black. When I woke up, there wasn't any bruises on my skin, it's like that incident never ever happened...."

"Then how about your bandages...?" I reluctantly pointed at the white stripes wrapped neatly around their arms.

"I've had them for a long time now, they were from snake bites while I taking care of little snakes in my shelter." They said while gently brushing over their bandages with their fingers. 

"Ah, right. I haven't got your ultimate title yet, you are an ultimate too right?" 

"Yeah, we both are! I'm the Ultimate Animal Caretaker and Medusa is the Ultimate Snake Caretaker!" Claudia exclaimed while hugging Medusa around their waist with her tiny arms. 

"No, Claudia... It's the Ultimate Snake Expert." they corrected.

"Well, more like caretaker to me!" The small girl— no, woman argued. I still can't believe Claudia act like her physical, but she was an adult in age.

"No, they're different." — and the conversation didn't just end there.  
  


I don't know if I should just leave them alone, before I can move, I felt something at my legs, I look down and saw the massive snake from before. It didn't try to attack me or even express any type of hostility, I felt something from the snake's expression and movements..... it was..... curiosity? When I was examining the snake, I noticed it donned a matching neck bandana, it was just like Medusa's.

Strangely, I don't feel scared or threatened around it, so I reached to pet the massive creature as if it was a cute puppy. Soon it opened its mouth, I noticed it was attempting to smile, its tongue sticking out, which caused me to giggle as it licked my nose gently and nuzzled my face with its muzzle.

"Ebony really likes you." Medusa chuckled quietly as they looked at me getting licked by the snake, while I just keep giggling while still petting the snake.

"It seems able to comprehend what we humans say like a trained dog would do," Yuuga commented, inspecting the massive creature with his hand as the snake rolled around exposing his belly like a dog would do. "Did you actually train it?" He added.

"Surprisingly, yeah.. he does. But all I did was just taking care of him, then he just keep following me, I didn't exactly have to train him to behave. He is... quite the peculiar one for an anaconda." Medusa explained, that when my eyes widened in shock.

But that isn't the thing I should think about right now, so I shook it off for now and said my goodbyes to them. "I'd love to know about that more, but I still need to get to know the rest of the people here. It was nice knowing you two."

"Arrivederci, Miss Hikari!"

"See you."


	10. Meeting Ultimate Librarian and Ultimate Police Officer.

There we saw a spacious room painted in white with a wooden flooring, a feast table almost entirely covered with a white tablecloth in the middle surrounded by sixteen chairs, and a chandelier hanging from above the table. Three pillars with beautiful crafted decorations stood in each row, towering high like trees in the forest. At the end of the room, there was a huge abstract painting which consisted of rainbow.

This was the last place we hadn't checked. Apparently, out of every room, this one didn't have a red carpet beneath, along with the infirmary.

  
An unknown whisper could be heard not too far from where I was. I looked up to see a young-looking woman standing near a chair. She had blonde hair in twin pigtails, wearing a light blue striped sweater with oversized sleeves under a light brown jumper and matching waist bag, black baggy pants and a pair of white shoes.  
  
  


It seemed like she was busy talking with a man who was sitting on the chair who I could barely see. Her back was facing me, so it was no wonder why she wasn't aware of my presence.

"Excuse me?" I spoke up to gain their attention.

  
After a few minutes, the woman in her heels turned around and looked at us nervously. She then stepped aside so that the man before her could introduce himself.

  
"Oh hello! I'm your friendly policeman, how may I help you?"

Unlike the rest who were wearing casual outfits, this man was wearing an officer attire. For whatever reason, he was only wearing it by a half of his body, revealing a white shirt with short sleeves, black suspenders, and a police hat that was tilted to the side, and black pants with matching formal shoes.

"Oh, also, watch your step there, I'm interrogating a suspect right now."

He glanced at us, with a grin and winked playfully while the woman is in confusion switching eyes between us repeatedly.  
  


"A w-what- what?" She stuttered in panic.

"I'm only messing around with you, Lulu." He chuckled before ended up burst out laughing, the woman whose named Lulu pouted at his statement.

"Please don't joke something like that!" She complained, following with another whine.  
  
  


"How is it even possible for a policeman to be in a place like this?" I wondered as I looked at them both, mainly the man. He stands out more than everyone I've met.  
  
  
  


The brunette chuckled as if he was able to read my mind, as he stood up from his seat only to merely offer me a handshake which I accepted.  
  
  
  


"Akihiro Kashoku. I prefer to go by Luke as my nickname, and I'm also an Ultimate Police Officer, hide your drugs while you still can." Tipping his hat afterwards with a small grin, Yuuga sighed in annoyance as the officer finished his introduction.

"Pleasure to meet you, officer Luke. How about you, miss?" I asked to the woman, who've been hiding behind him like a daughter with her dad meeting strangers.  
  
  


Obvious nervousness and discomfort expressed in her black eyes beneath the red framed round glasses, her hands playing with her own pigtails pulling at it. I would've called her adorable from doing so, unfortunately in this situation I had to hold back the urge.

"Lulu, Ultimate Librarian... Just call me Lulu."

She responded ever so slightly almost whispering but still loud enough to be heard by us.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ao Hikari."   
  
  


"Ohh.. wait you are telling me you're... that Ao Hikari?" The police let out a low gasp as his auburn eyes examined my face, I giggled at his question.

"Mhm, indeed I am."  
  
  
  
"A honor to meet you then! You might don't remember me but I've been at Grand court for few times."  
  
  
"Haha.. I may have always tired whenever a case solved, but I suppose it's good to see you.. again?" He nodded as he adjusted his long coat and his hat, sitting back on his previous seat. As I was about to speak, a loud beep echoed through the room and the halls.  
  
  
 _ **  
"We have been informed that everyone has gathered here, so we would like to inform that you have to go to the lobby in 10 minutes, attendance is mandatory, please do cooperate or else you will be punished."**_  
  
A deep voice spoken from speaker in the corner, ended up with another beep followed with a dead silence afterwards.  
  
  
  
  
None of us dared to speak a word, the confusion was obvious not knowing what's happening. Last sentence from the announcement is confusing and concerning, why would you be punished if you don't attend- no, that's not it, there's a lot more of question need to be asked but-  
  
"I suppose we cannot stay any longer for a chat then... We'll save it for later, okay?" the policeman spoke up breaking both silence and my train of thoughts as he scratched his neck.  
  
  
  
"Very well then, we'll chat some other time."


	11. Prologue - part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the animatic part it only works on wattpad to playable on the book, just click the link to view the short clip!

When the four of us was back at the massive lobby, everyone else was already here as the room was filled with noises of people talking to each other and more. A hand made its way to my shoulder. I looked up and saw that it was Yuuga, but he wasn't staring at me. Shortly, he removed his hand, as if the earlier action was merely to get my attention, and he adjusted his beret.

"Is something wrong, Yuuga?"

I asked, tilting my head in confusion. He glanced, before he shook head as a response. He seemed troubled, but I decided not to ask any more further as I looked around the lobby.  
  


"So where is this guy that wanted us to be here?" a high pitched voice yelled, I turned my head at the source to see it was Reiko.

"Maybe he's still preparing or forgotten something?" Familiar korean accent interrupted in.

"Well, he told us to wait here so let's just wait, shall we not?" Gloria shrugged, crossing her arms and keeping her elegant posture.

"Yeah... soon we'll figure out why we're here.. Now we have a clue, at least..." Apollo added, he was standing besides the velvet haired woman.  
  


The only ones who weren't speaking much are Lulu, Medusa, and Yuuga. They are keeping their distance as far as possible from others, except for Lulu who keeps sticking with the police like a stamp on an envelope, meanwhile Medusa was surrounded by their huge anaconda in the area as if the snake doesn't trust anyone in the room to get close with it's owner. Toby only merely walked around clueless all by himself while carrying a huge pillow, stopped somewhere and sat down on one of the couch.

My eyes landed on a certain bear man lurking around the corner, he seems very anxious that he won't stop looking back and forth like a lost puppy. What happened to his previous murderous confidence back at the infirmary to the point he placed his knife at my throat?  
  
  
  


"Hey.. is it just me or that red curtain has been there for awhile now? I don't remember seeing it when I'm here for first time?"

Claudia questioned, I followed to the direction where her index finger pointed at, it was a stage with closed red curtain.  
  


"Now that you mention it... I do not recall seeing it there, or else I would've noticed, due to the bright color." Gloria stated.  
  


Once again I scanned the lobby with my eyes, it's mostly only made of beige and white, and brown color schemes except the shiny ceramic floor, almost every furniture blended in the room due to the lights shine brightly, and it's only the curtain that seems out of place.

"Or you may have missed it because it's located at the end of room, people just straight up explore this building without checking this room first." The police interrupted as he stepped closer to where the stages are, followed with a few of us tailing behind.

"May I break whoever's kneecaps behind there?" Reiko questioned, walking towards the stage only to be stopped by Luke.

"Don't be reckless, ma'am. There could be some sort of a trap placed within, please remember that our situation right now isn't as safe as you think. We _were_ **_kidnapped_**." He stated in deep tone, he tried to mean it that he was being serious and an order as someone who have authority in society.

"I don't see how it is a trap, or you just don't have the guts?" Ayaka mocked from distance, playfully approached the stage like it's nothing much.  
  


"He's got a point, we need to be extra careful, since no one knows what's to come in a blink of eye." Hoshi added as he intensely stared at the curtain, Ayaka rolled her eyes in and shrugged off their warning like some sort of a joke.

"Well, whatever! I'm going up there."

"Miss, I warned you-"  
  


As soon as she said that, there was sudden blackout out of nowhere followed with a frightened scream from people nearby.

" ** _Oh my god, what the fuck?!"_**

I could hear loud screeching from Claudia, while my legs froze like a block of ice holding me in very spot I was standing, my hand clutching my necklace tightly in fear.  
  


"Calm down, everyone! It is only blackout!" Luke exclaimed, trying to calm everyone down as the whining getting louder which I assumed from Lulu.  
  


"This is not funny! Show yourself!" Reiko yelled as loud as she could in absolute rage. "or else I'm throwing hands!!"

"Miss, I demand you to be quiet." Luke threatened as he hissed at the actress, which replied by a screech from her.

"Alright, alright! Jeez!"

[Prologue short clip - part 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqMDbZv3mzk)

After that, there's only long silence as people started to calm down while we remained still in the dark. Footsteps could be heard from front row, backing away from the said stage as the sound echoed through the darkness.  
  


Then the curtain slowly started getting pulled up from above ceiling, revealed a figure in cape as a spotlight shine over them like some sort of grand opening theater.

Squinting my eyes at the only light source in the room, they appear to have a half black and half white cape covering their whole body including their head, gold lines of cloud-shaped accents decorated their upper cape with a little bit of glitter.

Slowly they raise their head, revealing more of their features that hidden within the hood shadows.

_"Welcome to the court, ladies and gentlemen..."_   
  
  


Their white hair bangs covered their other ruby-colored eye, and a mask with a creepy smile in the matching color of their cape adorned their face. In very slow motion, they spread arms wide to their sides, before closing the gaps between their body as their bent down and slowly as they bent down and slowly placed a hand to their chest.

" _My name is Judge, and I will be your Judge for I will guide you to justify your crime..._

 _I hope we can get along_ _until you are_ _ **no**_ _ **longer in guilt**_."


	12. Prologue - part 2

"What—?"

I murmured under my breath in confusion of this self proclaimed judge of this very court building I'm currently in.  
  


"Alright, so you're _**the judge of this court**_. What do you want from us? Now that you have kidnapped quite a bunch of them, not to mention they were Ultimate as well which is a serious matter." The policeman straight up questioned the man, stepping closer to the stage as he did.

Judge shot a question back as he tilted his head, squinting his ruby eyes menacingly at us in disgust. "Kidnapped isn't the right word if I may say, curious now are we?"  
  


Claudia abruptly joined the conversation with a yell, pointing her index finger to the man as her other hand roughly grasped her cat scarf. "You expect us to know? You are the kidnapper!"

"I wouldn't say that if I were you, Miss Vanetta. Even though technically I did host this event, I merely doing my job as a Judge."

"Are you saying this wasn't all your doing?" Policeman asked once again, adjusting his tilted hat.

"Indeed. Now I demand you to be quiet so that I'll explain things much faster, questions may be asked afterwards, but I cannot guarantee I will answer any question you desperately want to know about."  
  


He looked around to make sure everyone had their mouth shut, he let out an extremely long sigh after breathing in for a good minute, and then began his speech.

" **First** , I will start over. Obviously _'Judge' is an alias_ , if you ever wondered why or what don't even bother to ask as I have my own reason for it."

" **Second** , all of you are here for **the same exact reason** , unfortunately I cannot reveal that information as... a certain someone is watching this, again I'm a mere person to help them behind the scenes."

He raised his hand, three fingers up in the air as a gesture to emphasize his words.

" **Third,** this one is _very_ important. Do not ever try to harm yours truly, if I ever get killed, most likely you will stuck in this place for who knows how long until someone arrives to replace me, my job is only to guide you to get out of here under some circumstances, so I hope we can cooperate in this very court." Yet a fourth finger raised, thumb neatly folded on his gloved palm.

" **Fourth** , since I forgot to bring the tablets for you to read the **rules** and other important things that were listed, they will be in each of your rooms which are in second floor of the building so please make your way there after this, each room assigned with your very own name to make it easier to find yours. Why bedrooms, do you wonder?"  
  


"Here's another important thing to note, you won't be getting out of here anytime soon and bedrooms were provided for you to get rest. Therefore, remember **the third point** I said earlier. Lastly—..."  
  


He paused, putting down the hand he's been hung in the air under his cloak.  
  


"You probably wonder this one the most; _Why are you here? What is this supposed to be redeeming the sin you didn't acknowledge, and why must you do this?_ Then I must welcome you..."

He paused on purpose, leaving heavy tension for a moment as he once again bowed toward us.

"To the killing game which take in this very place of the court. With a perfect murder crime, you will be allowed to leave this place without getting caught in a trial, and that's the only condition to redeem your crime, again- unfortunately you have to figure out on your own, otherwise if you don't want to do a murder, you can always try to survive until the end whether it be one or two people remaining." He paused, clearing his throat after all that explanation.

"You may now speak up to ask questions in case you have not understand what's going on yet, make it quick as my time isn't much." He continued.  
  
  
  


The librarian spoke up after a good minute of silence, tried her best to looked fearless despite that she was shaking uncontrollably from the overwhelming fear. "What if we don't kill at all? Are we able to be released later in the future, or are we stuck here... forever?"

"Unfortunately, you will have either live here until you commit a murder, or even better by simply surviving trials until there's two people remaining as it's impossible to do a trial with the number I just said before."

"O-oh... I see." Lulu nodded at the response, then muttered under her breath as she stepped backwards.  
  
  
  


"So, dying is an option?" Apollo asked out of nowhere.

"Indeed. But I wouldn't recommend suicide as your life will be wasted for nothing even though a trial will be held for it, I may or may not will provide you with a motive that will push you to your greatest limit depending on my master's choice." The judge responded in a monotone voice which quite gave the goosebumps, the way he explained things as if life doesn't matter at all, like a toy to play with.

The enthusiast sighed in disappointment, "That's unfortunate."

"I don't think anyone want to die in this kind of place..." He tried to ignore earlier statement by the brunette but to his dismay, other male heard his denial.

"'Ey, didn't you hear what I said earlier?" Apollo waved at Sumin, which was greeted by an expression of horror on his facial features.  
  


"Are you serious, Apollo?! Judge this isn't right, please tell me you are actually joking!" Break-dancer almost half yelled toward the Judge as he tried to argue— keyword: argue, but he was stopped as other male he was spoken to lifted his hand as a gesture to cease the sentence.

"I wouldn't ever joke something like this, Mr. Youngsoo. But think about it, if you don't want to die, then try to survive with these two options: murder, or try not to be killed by someone's dirty hands. By participating in this game until the end, means you have already redeemed your crime, even if you have to die midway of the game which become someone's else victim... or the culprit to be executed when you get caught, It's life for a life." He explained as he snapped his fingers to emphasize the statement as the noise echoed through the lobby.

_Life for life, it's kill or be killed. There's no in between, life or death is the only option. I refuse to accept this actually happening right now, I pinched my cheek to see if I'm actually dreaming but I felt the pain which shock me once again to reality- no, this is reality. Terrifying reality I must face from this second, and death lurking in this court from anywhere ready to pounce at its prey at any second._

_At this point, I don't know anymore what should I say nor even think as my mind becomes blank knowing I can die later or sooner, time will tell... but it doesn't exactly tell you._

"Judge, why does it have to be Ultimates? It's oddly specific and everyone here happened to be one, if so... why are **_we chosen to participate_** in this?"  
  


Judge turned his head direction to the person who asked, it was Yuuga as I turned on my heels to look up at the archer.

The Judge chuckled, "Good question, Mr. Wataru. Yes, for a reason all of you were chosen. Ultimates meant to be flawless in this world, but unfortunately that's not the case for the rest of you."  
  
  
  


"Very well then, Judge... do you mind if I summary things up?" Gloria spoke up, gaining the called person's attention.

"Your wish is granted, proceed."

"In conclusion, we are in this killing game because we were supposed to be _perfect_ and apparently there's one reason which broke that _flawless_ purpose, in result we ended up in this court to clear our reason by murdering someone without getting caught in a trial or in other word getting executed." She explained, earned a clap from Judge.

"Correct, Miss Victory. Thank you for the contribution! If there's no more question I shall leave you be to get some rest before we begin the game tomorrow."  
  


"T-tomorrow...?" Lulu stuttered, obviously not expecting this whole game thing to start so soon.  
  


"Wait, is no one going to mention that Judge said 'kidnapping' is not how we ended up here? Since most of us woke up from a sudden blackout—" Reiko yelled at the crowd as all eyes landed on her, the realization made it and confused everyone within this room, inaudible chattering filled the crowd.

"Kidnapping is partly right, but—" Judge halted with a chuckle as he put a finger in front of his mask created a hush gesture, **_"what if I say that some of you are actually willing to come here for the game?"_**


	13. Prologue - part 3 [FINAL]

The lobby was quickly filled with tension, as those unbelievable remarks were spoken through his mask out of nowhere like a sudden heavy object dropped with a huge impact that made my heart drop to my stomach and caused it to twist, and more loathsome feelings that I cannot describe in words.

Feeling delighted, he clearly enjoyed the reaction we gave as people started to eye each other questioningly. The dreadful air was quickly cut off by someone yelling, "You really think we are going to fall for that?!"

"Well, yes. You technically just did ten seconds ago." The Judge answered with a shrug at Sumin, who reacted with a grunt of denial, clenching his fist.

"You guys really believed him, huh. " Medusa who's been silent since the beginning finally spoke up.

"I-It doesn't seem like he would lie about it..." Lulu stuttered, "I mean- he even knows our names! He knows more than we do and he- knew the person who did this whole killing game..!" she added.

"Gullible..." Medusa sneered.

"Shut it, you snake!" Reiko yelled at her genuinely pissed off, but Medusa didn't seem bother much.

Lulu has a point, some people were acting off about this whole killing game thing and they would have lied to me about not knowing a single thing at all when in reality they did know something is _definitely_ wrong.

"Now, now... I'm the host here, I wouldn't lie about such a thing, would I? Miss for- ah my bad, almost forgotten that you awfully dislike your last name, Miss Lulu." He said almost in a mocking tone which responded with a shocked gasp from the female he was talking to.

"Y-you knew that..." Blood drained from the librarian's face in absolute fear, and she looked like she's at the brink of crying.

The Police stepped in front of her, blocking her view from seeing the Judge. "Cut it off, or I will not hesitate to shoot you."

"Shoot me? With what? I have your gun. Laughable, officer,"

Luke's eyes widened at that statement, as he frantically checked his pocket for his gun and realized the other male wasn't lying as clicking noises could be heard, that when Judge pulled out the weapon from his cloak out of blue as he aimed it at people, they crowded in fear at the sight as they were backing away and getting to defensive posture.

Yuuga pushed me out of the way and I faced his back, "Stay behind me."

"Huh?!"

"I will be fine, just stay there." He reassured me as if he knew what I was thinking, but I decided not to say anything more and accepted his attempt to protect me.

"Put down the gun! We are powerless, this is biased!" Sumin shouted at the judge, earning a sinister chuckle as a response in a mocking way.

"You do realize you're in no position to order me around, don't you?" He tilted his head.

Things get even more chaotic as they begged the Judge to stop and cease the weapon, but he doesn't even try to listen to their plea. The intention is as clear as crystal that he wanted to harm us, imposing us to realize that this game wasn't fake at all with all the threat he gave.

"I suppose my master wouldn't mind if I can have my own little entertainment with the defendants."

Even though half of his face was covered with a mask, I still could tell that he's clearly smirking from ear to ear, like a mad man judging from his eyes looking at us, like a blood-thirsty predator.

**BANG!**

A loud gunshot echoed through the lobby, the librarian who was closer to the stage shrieked as she fell to the floor, while people tried to avoid getting targeted by the armed man on stage.

"Lulu!" The policeman turned his back to the young woman who was already curled up hugging her knee and hiding her face, she was crying so badly.

As Luke managed to lift her up and was about to run away, time suddenly froze as everything suddenly moved in very slow motion when another roaring gunshot echoed through the lobby. A black shadow jumped in between them and blocked Luke's view from the Judge and—

**_CRACK!_ **

Judge was froze on the spot, and reluctantly dropped the gun as he snapped back to reality and realized that he actually shot someone who was in front of Luke and Lulu. Since Yuuga blocked my view I cannot clearly see who got shot so I just stood there, the sound of heavy boots getting farther as I assumed Judge ran away from the stage and the lights are back and he's no longer in our sight.

After a while of silence, a thud was heard and I decided to rush over to see a familiar man in red and black, Kuro _._ A hole was formed in the floor from an earlier gunshot nearby his legs.

"K-Kuro?!" I called out to the criminal, worried that he might get shot in vital places as I crouched over. He was holding his bleeding thigh, groaning in pain as he looked back at me.

"It's a mere scratch, not a big deal." He laughed nervously and attempted to stand up which I held back down before pulling out a handkerchief I always had and wrapped it around the wound to stop the bleeding temporarily.

"Ah- thanks, I suppose.."

"Don't mention it, we will need to go infirmary since it will only stop the bleeding temporarily.. Luke, how is Lulu?" I turned my head at the brunette as I supported Kuro to stand up with his arm over my shoulders.

"I- I have no clue, she is still... shaking uncontrollably. Fortunately she didn't get any injury, physically wise.."

My eyes glanced at Toby approaching behind him and poked the police, then he looked at Luke who exchanged a confused look at the old man. "Turn around, officer. I need to check her," So he did as Toby stared at the shaking woman before him, then looked back at the man who was carrying her.

"She's having a panic attack, get her out of here to someplace quiet. Being here will only make it worse for her." He ordered, shooing Luke away who was puzzled at the sudden task but obeyed anyway, he glanced at Kuro as if he wanted to say something but seemed to decide against it and left the lobby with Lulu in his arms. Kuro hissed next to my face warning that he's still in agony, so I nodded at Toby who looked at me with his baggy eyes and stepped out of the way to give us more room to walk.

One by one people started leaving, except Medusa who was sitting in the corner with the snake and Claudia while Yuuga just patiently waited for me not moving an inch at all. "Ao?" He called out to me, crossing his arms.

"Kuro got an injury, we will take him first to the infirmary to heal the bullet wound."

"Huh? I beg to differ, he's not a damn child you should take care of like you are his mom." The archer hissed, clearly not wanting the other's presence.

" I know, Yuuga. But he still needs help." I scolded him.

"I'm actually harmless, so don't bother about my existence but I get why you don't like me as much." He waved at the other male as he laughed.

"Yeah right." The archer scoffed.

"I won't steal your wife, buddy." Kuro teased.

"Please stop fighting already, you two!"

As we arrived at our destination, Yuuga didn't follow inside as he stayed outside by the door while I entered to treat Kuro's wound as he sat on one of the beds. I approached him with a first aid kit in hand and sat on the edge and took out a small bottle of alcohol and bandages.

"This might be painful, so-"

"I've been through worse, it's fine. I was surprised you are still helping me when I have put a knife against your throat before." He cut off with another low chuckle.

I rolled my eyes, as I gently applied the alcohol on a bundle of cotton. " It turned out you didn't even kill me, Mr. criminal."

"... Do I look bad in your eyes?"

"Huh?"

"Everyone's first impression in me is either unease or malice, and you have yet shown me neither. I wonder if this is just a plain trick to make me put my faith in you, so I won't kill you later in the long run?"

I was bewildered by his words, what made him think of such things? I honestly don't know what to say, but I don't like seeing him like this, I couldn't tell if he's just trying to make me pity him nor even a genuine word since he made it sound so casual which I could hardly believe.

"Boop."

My train of thoughts was interrupted by a finger at my nose, I blinked in confusion as he poked my nose once again. "What-?"

"Doctor, your patient is suffering. Stop zoning out, I could've died!" He wailed as he shook my shoulders out of blue then stopped when the pain kicked in, I almost laughed at that which he noticed.

"Alright, alright. Stay still so I can heal you properly."

After a few minutes of screaming in agony and struggling, I finally managed to wrap the wound neatly and taped the bandages which he responded with a flinch. "ACK NO-"

I smiled as I pat his head, "It will take awhile, don't worry." and replied with a scoff, crossing his arms and pushed my hand on his head which I didn't mind. _He's such a kid at heart._

"My ears hurt from all that girly scream." Archer commented as we both walked out.

"Shut up!" Kuro whined.

"I'll be going with Yuuga now, See you Rei-" Before I even finished my sentence I was dragged by others to the opposite direction, I waved off at others as he waved back.

"Hey, didn't you hear what the Judge said? Not everyone was kidnapped to be here in first place so you should stop being nice especially to that criminal. He's clearly not trustworthy.." The Archer complained as we tried to find our rooms on the second floor, gripping my shoulder roughly.

"I get what you mean, Yuuga. However no matter who it is, if they hurt we should help."

He pinched his nose bridge, clearly annoyed. "Are you kidding me right now? Bullshit."

I sighed, "I'm just doing what I think is right to do, either way this doesn't matter anymore to argue. Let's find our devices to read the rules and understand this game better so we can try our best to survive." as I led him to a door that has his name tag on it and opened it for him.

"There, I found your door. Mine is across your room so feel free to knock on my door if you need anything!" Without saying a word, he brushed past me and slammed the door on my face. Sighing and shaking my head, I decided to check my room and closed the door as I entered.

The room surprisingly doesn't look ordinary and fairly fancy like the rest of the building, the walls and ceiling painted nicely in white with geometric patterns, a bookshelf with few books, a photo frame, and a bed with my favorite color being yellow pastel as the blanket. Under the bed is a soft red carpet and a large TV placed on the wall in front of the bed, but there's no remote in sight which is odd, how do I turn on the device then?

In a corner there was a small room with a plain white plastic door, I opened it to see a closet and a bathtub but nothing out of ordinary except the furniture seems brand new and spotless. So I went off and noticed there's a device on top of the bed, which I assume is the tablet that Judge mentioned earlier.

I picked up the black tablet and turned it on, the screen shows a top bar with four options following: Home, rules, defendants and autopsy report. A large word centered in the screen was written:

_Welcome, Hikari Ao._

and with a note in smaller words below it:

_Please do check the rules first!_

_Killing game starting in: Ten hours, Fifty four minutes, and three seconds._

So I clicked the rules tab, and a bunch of sentences popped up with an arrow button on the right of the screen, carefully my eyes wiped over the white words;

_I frowned at the rules, especially number six. Trust no one, huh? I doubt Yuuga could be one of them, but he could be acting as well. Perhaps I'll just play along for now with their act, and prioritize my safety first.. I'm not going to die in this kind of place._

A yawn quickly escaped my mouth as I covered it in haste, today is quite tiring. I would check on Yuuga for a bit but I suppose I will do that later in the morning. A short rest wouldn't be hurt, right? I let loose my bun as it fell over my shoulders and to my back before I turned off the device and put it on a nightstand.

I lay at rest finally...

**_[The end of prologue]_ **


End file.
